our other major story, countdown to the fiscal cliff. talks are going on to try to reach a deal. >> without an agreement, the average american family would see a tax increase of more than $3,400. abc's preeti arla is joining us from washington with more on what this means. preeti? >> reporter: john and paula, top leaders seemed optimistic, but that seemed to shift. that optimism replaced by pessimism and still no deal with time running out. the clock is ticking, negotiations are ongoing. but at this point, democrats and republicans remain at odds. >> regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle class families do not go up. that would hurt our economy badly. we can get that done. >> reporter: president obama called for immediate action but there was no vote in the senate. >> we're going to come in at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, and we'll have further announcements perhaps at 11:00 in the morning. i certainly hope. so>> reporter: minority leader mitch mcconnell called vice president bide